Sanzo's Favorite
by Ritsuko-Inu
Summary: Sanzo finds a couple of cute fuzzy kittens in the forest, what’s a monk to do? Hide them from the others and take them with him of course! But these aren't and ordinary kittens... Rating for language, violence, and adult themes later on. SxGoku HxOC GxOC
1. Unexpected

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki. I do not own the characters. It's safe to say that I don't own anything remotely related unless you count the Anime or Manga…. Which you should…. Own I mean… not count… or should you? –blink-

Summary: Sanzo finds a couple of cute fuzzy animals along the side of the road. What's a monk to do? Hide them in his robes and take them with him of course! But how will he keep them hidden when he finds out that they're much more than they seem.

Sanzo's Favorite

Deep in the forest, where the air is thick with the damp smell of new rain and earth, a quartet of men journeyed to the west. Well, one man, two demons, a monkey, and a dragon that is. The man was no other than the great Genjyo Sanzo, a blonde with droopy purple eyes and a mean-ass attitude. This worldly monk was known to smoke, gamble, drink, and carry a gun for banishing demons and threatening his companions.

Driving the jeep was the demon known as Cho Hakkai. Well, he was a man who became a demon after killing a thousand others. The brunette's striking green eyes carried an occasionally sharp gaze that made his companions wonder about his normally pleasant and polite disposition. His jeep was actually a white dragon by the name of Hakuryu that he kept as a pet.

In the back seat a half demon called Sha Gojyo wrestled with a smaller boy (or monkey depending upon who you spoke to) named Son Goku. Gojyo's flaming red hair and eyes marked him as the child of a taboo pairing for man and demon were never to mix blood. The only thing hotter than his blood and lust for lung cancer would be his talent with his weapon the shakujou staff. While Goku shouted insults up at him the glare formed by his golden eyes was blocked by his brown hair.

Only when Goku summoned his Nyoi-Bo and used it to upper-cut Gojyo did Sanzo turn around his seat and strike both of them with his trusty paper fan while dishing out the normal "I'll kill you" line he was famous for. Goku replied with a normal whine of "Gojyo started it" and "I'm hungry".

The two went back to fighting in the back seats, both kicking the sides of the automobile until Hakuryu had enough and transformed, leaving all four men to hit the ground with a loud thud.

"So we have to walk now?" Goku whined. "I'm so hungry, I can't take a step! Make him change back Hakkai!"

"Your roughhousing is what caused him to transform, Goku; we'll have to walk until he's ready to let you ride in him again." Hakkai smiled softly as his dragon curled around his shoulders.

"Sure, let him ride!" Goku snapped. Sanzo wasted no time in hitting him again with his paper fan.

"That's enough!" Sanzo growled, as he did rain started to pour down from the trees and he clenched his jaw shut tightly.

"Aw shit!" Gojyo cursed, looking around for some form of shelter. A light rain wouldn't have been bad, the trees would have blocked it but an all out down pour had begun, leaving the men to become quickly soaked.

"Maybe there's a cave nearby," said the ever optimistic Hakkai and he motioned for the group to follow him, heading off in a random direction. Though reluctant the trio followed after him, their moods dampened by the rain.

Hakkai's intuition proved correct as they stumbled upon a small cave big enough for them to fit into. They spread out as far as they could from one another; Hakkai busied himself with making a fire that he lit with Sanzo's lighter.

"At least there's plenty of dry wood in here." Hakkai motioned to the littered floor. He gathered some of the longer sticks and lodged them between to places in the wall to make a clothes rack of sort to hang his clothes on to dry. They disrobed, letting Hakkai situate their clothes while they warmed themselves by the fire. Sanzo held out his sutra to be sure it wasn't too wet and let the fire dry the bit of rain water that had fallen onto it.

"I'm so hungry I could eat anything," Goku groaned. Hakuryu flew up to the roof of the cave, hiding among the rocks while Goku's stomach growled. Hakkai searched in his bag but found nothing edible, while Gojyo cursed his luck that his playing cards were ruined.

Sanzo folded his sutra after he was sure that it had dried and moved a little further back from the fire, he placed himself against a smooth part in the cave wall and let himself doze. If they were attacked he had his gun in his lap, ready to fire.

Hakkai seemed to take from Sanzo's example and placed himself near the entrance of the cave, as a first alert should anyone show up unexpectedly. Goku paced around the cave, holding his stomach while Gojyo tried to salvage his cards until he settled down next to Sanzo, sleeping with his head against the taller man's shoulder. Gojyo stayed up a while to tend to the fire, keeping it nice and full so the cave would stay warm for them until he too had to let himself sleep.

Saiyuki- Sanzo's Favorite –Saiyuki

It was early morning when Goku woke; he turned his face into the bundle of clothes under his head and sighed into them. He pushed himself up, rubbing on of his eyes while glancing around, Hakkai and Gojyo were still sleeping, their clothes untouched on the make shift clothes rack. He found that the pile of clothes on the ground was his own and he quietly pulled them on, wondering where Sanzo had gone off to. Both he and his clothes were gone, as well as his own Cape.

He stretched as he stood, ignoring the growl coming from his stomach as he made his way out of the cave. Goku headed for Sanzo, using his keen sense to find him. The walk took him back to the dirt road the group had been driving along the day before. It was on the opposite side of the road that he spotted Sanzo kneeling in the dirt.

Intrigued, Goku moved around until he could see what Sanzo was doing. What he saw shocked him. Two small, half-starved kittens were rubbing themselves against Sanzo's robes. He was actually petting them in turn as they came in contact with his hand. Sanzo picked the two kittens up and placed them into a bag. No, he put them into a Goku's cape that he had bundled up to make a bag.

Goku stared as Sanzo cradled the bundle in his arms and began heading back to the cave. He turned and shot off, intending to make it back before the monk. When he returned he saw that Gojyo and Hakkai were up, and pulling on their clothes. He leapt up onto one of the branches of a tree and settled in as best he could before Sanzo returned, carelessly holding the make-shift bag in one hand.

"Sanzo, you seen Goku?" Gojyo asked as he saw Sanzo approaching. The monk glared at him.

"No, did you lose him again?" Sanzo looked tense, he moved the hand he held the bundle in a little behind him to try to hide it. Goku took a deep breath, bracing himself for whatever it was Sanzo would do and jumped down from the tree right before him.

"Did you bring back fo- OW!" Goku cried out as a paper fan hit him.

"No, I didn't bring you anything to eat!" Sanzo snapped, raising the fan to hit him again.

"So the monkey was in a tree," Gojyo laughed. Hakkai's eyes settled on the bag Sanzo carried and he raised an eyebrow at it. Gojyo caught sight of Hakkai's face and followed his gaze to the bag. "What's that?" Gojyo pointed to the bag.

"Non of your business. Let's go." Sanzo turned away, forgetting about hitting the monkey with his fan.

"It's not food then? Come on Sanzo what is it?" Goku asked, more so to put any suspensions Sanzo's might have to rest that to see if he'd actually tell the truth about the kittens.

"My gun and my wallet, now move!" Sanzo snapped at them. Hakuryu flew from his hiding place in the roof of the cave and lead their way back to the road.

The group was eerily silent in the jeep, Hakkai glanced at the bag from time to time but was convinced that it was better to leave Sanzo alone and not question him about it. Gojyo leaned around the front seat and frowned slightly, wondering what was in it. He blinked when he saw something inside the bag move but before he could announce it to the rest of the car Sanzo whacked him in the side of the face with his paper fan.

Goku roared with laughter as Gojyo held the side of his face at began to cuss at Sanzo, outraged that the monk had struck him. The movement in the bag was soon forgotten as he punched Goku and the two began wrestling about in the back seat once more, screaming insults such as "Pervy Kappa!" and "Stupid Monkey" at one another.


	2. Surprise?

Author's Note: Well great that started out possibly more boring than I wanted it to. Hopefully it'll get better as this chapter goes along. Don't give up on me just yet! In this chapter things are sure to heat up a little! Wink

Disclaimer: yea I don't own any of the Characters or places involved with Saiyuki, however, the kittens are all mine!

Sanzo's Favorite

It was nearly twilight when the rag-tag team pulled into a town. Gojyo had to hold onto the back of Goku's shirt to keep him from running straight to a nearby food cart. Once Sanzo had threatened the monkey enough he was forced to carry luggage while the group found a hotel with a vacancy.

"We only have three rooms left sir," said a bright-eyed girl from behind a desk. Sanzo whipped out his credit card and placed it on the desk while Hakkai wrote their names down in the check in log.

"I'll take all three." He looked away from her as she checked his credit and glared at the trio behind him, letting them know that they'd fight over two of the rooms, one belonged to him.

"Here you go sir," the girl said cheerfully and held out the room keys for Sanzo to take. He tossed two of the keys to the others and went about his way, leaving Gojyo and Goku to squabble over who would take the extra room.

Once safely in his room with the door locked and bolted he laid the bag on the bed and loosened the string he had tied it closed with to let the kittens out. From the corner of his eyes he spotted a mini bar and went to see if there was anything worthwhile inside. When he turned back around he found the kittens had crawled out of the bag and were busy stretching their legs out.

He walked back over to the bed and sat down. Immediately one of the kittens bounded over to him and started rubbing against the hand he had laying on the bed. He sighed and scratched its head briefly before he took out his pack of cigarettes and lit one up.

The kitten that had been rubbing against his hand climbed up onto his lap and curled into a ball. He began to pet it until it rolled over onto its back to bat at his fingers, sometimes stretching out it's front paws to playfully grab his fingers and pull them down to nip at them.

He looked over to the other kitten, to check on it and found that it was sitting on the pillow licking itself clean. He finished his cigarette and picked up the kitten on his lap to place it back on the bed. The one that had been licking itself pounced on the other and the two kittens began to play fight while Sanzo headed to the door. He wanted to get some milk for them before the kitchen closed up for the night. A soft mew made him look back at them and he frowned slightly.

They were both looking at him; the one he had petted was still pinned under the other, its eyes locked on him. He took a moment to really look at them both; the one on bottom had a cool green eye on the right and a light blue eye on the left. It was an almost raven color with white tips on its ears. The other was bright red with what looked like orange-red eyes. The black kitten mewed at him but he turned away and left the room.

He checked the door to make sure it was locked before he headed down the hall. Sanzo stopped outside of one of the rooms that they had checked out and heard Goku and Hakkai's voices. That meant Gojyo had the other room by himself. He could guess what the demon was doing. He ignored the urge to check out the other room to confirm his suspicion and ruin Gojyo's fun so he could find someone in order to order some stuff from the kitchen.

To his surprise the girl at the front was the first person he bumped into. He had a sneaking suspicion that she was going to Gojyo's room but didn't say anything to her about it. Instead he inquired about getting something to eat. She acted a little nervous while she spoke to him but pointed him to the hotel restaurant, explaining that the customers could order their food straight from there.

He thanked her and started down the hall in the direction she had pointed. When he found the restaurant he was surprised to see Gojyo sitting at the bar chatting with the bartender. Due to sheer curiosity he crossed the room to sit next to his companion. He smirked at him and offered the ash tray he was using. Sanzo rolled his eyes but lit a cigarette and listened while he and the bartender spoke about the demon activity around town.

Sanzo flagged down a waitress and ordered a plate of Shrimp Lo Mein, a beer, and some milk to take with him to his room then focused in on Gojyo's conversation while he waited for his order. There was only been a few incidents so far, most of the demons who had lived in town had left, but a few were still there. There had been seven murders in all, many of those killed were travelers staying in the hotels, so far the one they were in hadn't been bothered and it was because of that so many people were staying there. Sanzo and Gojyo exchanged uneasy frowns at the news. They'd rather be in a place that had already been hit than one where demons hadn't come to yet.

The waitress came back and Gojyo moved the ashtray over to claim it once more while Sanzo paid for the food and left a small tip for the waitress before heading back to his room. On the way he passed Hakkai and Goku heading for the shower and ignored Goku's request for him to go with them. He caught a sour look from Goku as he passed by them but chose not to hit the monkey and simply glared at him instead.

When he returned to the room he paused, eyeing the slightly ajar door. Sanzo shifted the food to one hand and pulled out his gun before pushing it open and aiming it at anything that might be inside. He moved into the room cautiously, remembering that demons were on the loose in the town. But why did they always manage to find him? Sanzo lowered his weapon when he found his room clear and placed the food down on a table. The window was closed and locked from the inside, he doubted that anyone could have come in from there but how had his door been opened then?

Kittens. He dropped to his knees and looked under the bed. Not there. He pulled the covers down on the bed. Not there either. Sanzo cursed, they must have gotten out through the door. At least, he hoped they had gotten out through the door, otherwise whoever opened the door had taken them. He tensed, hearing the door creak behind him and turned, raising his gun. He heard the door slam closed before something tackled him, knocking him down onto the bed.

Sanzo found himself frozen with surprise; someone was on top of him, straddling him while pinning his hands on the bed. But what surprised him even more than the fact that he had been pinned was that whoever it was had their lips on his.

Saiyuki-Sanzo's Favorite-Saiyuki

Gojyo watched a waitress from the corner of his eye. She seemed to know he was looking at her and bent over a table, shifting her position a little to give him a good view of her ass. Gojyo chuckled and mentally added a tally to his list of women before taking a quick drink of his beer. He was getting ready to stand up and approach the waitress when another girl entered his line of vision.

"Damn," he mumbled as a girl passed by him. He eyed her short black dress with interest as she slowly made her way around the room, looking from face to face. He guessed her height to be around the same as Goku's, but that suited him just fine. She turned around, still searching the crowd of people for someone, and gave him a good view of her face.

She looked a little young, perhaps only eighteen at most, and had red hair that curled a little around her face. Gojyo leaned his head to one side as she turned a little to one side, the girl was well endowed, another plus for her. Her dress was tight enough to give him a good look at her curvaceous figure and short enough to make his itch kick in.

He reached for his beer, intending to finish it before heading over to her and saw another guy approach her. His instinct told him to wait, but he didn't like the look of the guy, nor the way he grabbed her arm to get her attention. Though he was something for a womanizer he didn't like to see women, especially cute ones, mistreated.

The girl tried to pull her arm free but the guy simply tugged on her arm and she moved towards him. He wrapped an arm around her middle and pulled her so her body pressed against his, making her try to push against him to get away.

"Come one Girly, I've got a room all to myself. Let's get to know one another." She turned her face away from his as he lent down to kiss her and she made a face. The alcohol on his breath was so overwhelming it even made Gojyo grimace.

"Let go of me. I'm trying to find…" Gojyo's face turned almost as red as his hair as the guy grabbed her ass. He reached out, taking hold of the girl while pulling back a fist to hit the guy. The room grew eerily silent as Gojyo struck him, knocking him back into another table while holding the girl in place so she wouldn't fall with him. He moved forwards, in front of her in case the drunk got back onto his feet. He didn't. Gojyo relaxed and looked over to the bartender he had been chatting with. He was cleaning a glass, the rest of the restaurant when back to their meals and Gojyo turned around to face the girl.

"You okay?" The girl stared intently at her shoes but nodded slightly. "Lets get out of here." He held out his hand, the girl paused but took it and let him lead her out of the restaurant and out onto the grass to a bench close by the entrance of the hotel.

"Thank you," she said as she sat down. Gojyo shrugged as he took a seat next to her.

"Sure. You're looking for someone?" He watched her smooth out the skirt of her dress over her lap and nod.

"Sort of. But I guess he's already back to the room by now." She raised her head a little and blushed a little before looking away again. "I'm sorry, I've never seen anyone like me before."

Gojyo felt his chest tighten. Like her? He reached out and turned her face back towards his. Sure enough a pair of red eyes met his for a moment before she looked away again. "I didn't realize," He said quietly. Then smirked and looked up at the sky. He hadn't expected to actually bump into someone like him on the journey.

They sat together in silence for a while, the girl leaned forwards and placed her hands on her knees while Gojyo stared up at the sky. "So, the guy your looking for. Is he your…"

"Owner," she finished for him. Gojyo looked back to her in surprise and she smiled slightly. "I'm his pet."

Gojyo raised an eyebrow. She didn't seem upset about it, but he wasn't sure what to think. What kind of person kept a girl as a pet? "What's your name?"

"I don't have one, well, he hasn't given me one yet." She tensed as her stomach growled then laughed softly. "I should go, he might be mad if I'm gone too long." She stood, Gojyo followed after her.

"I'll walk you back," he wanted to see what kind of guy he was. She shook her head.

"No, I don't think it would be a good idea. It's enough that I've been gone so long, if I come back with you he might think…" She looked away from him and sighed. "I can find my room on my own. Thank you for your concern." She quickly walked away, heading through the hotel entrance.

Gojyo clicked his tongue and waited for a minute before following after her. He was carefully to keep enough distance between the two of them so she wouldn't know he had followed. He watched from around the corner as she opened and door and hurriedly went through it before closing it again.

Gojyo waited before making his way to the door and pressing his ear against it. He could hear talking but couldn't make out the words. It sounded like a female voice but wasn't the same as the girl he had been talking to. Sure, he could have knocked on the door, or knocked the door down, but instead he decided to wait until someone came out. He went a few doors down and opened his own room up. At least he wasn't too far away.

Saiyuki-Sanzo's Favorite-Saiyuki

When he heard his door open and close again Sanzo snapped back into action. He managed to free his arms and shove the body away from him easier than he thought he would have. At the door a girl was standing, looking worriedly from Sanzo to another girl on the floor. He looked from one to the other. The one on the floor had black hair and a short red dress, they way she had landed on the floor made her black panties visible so he had to look back up to the other girl. This one was a red head with a short black dress.

No time for questions. He pointed his gun to the girl who had come through the door.

"Did we do something wrong?" the girl on the floor asked. He watched her push herself so she was sitting on her legs. "We're sorry if we did. You never said to stay in here."

Sanzo felt his hand tremble, the girl on the floor was looking up at him with different colored eyes. He glanced up to the other girl, red eyes. Two girls, same hair and eyes as the two kittens. The kittens were gone, the girls were there. Not possible.

"Who are you?" he asked. The girl at the door started to move but thought better of it when he pointed the gun at her. "I won't ask twice."

"You don't know?" The red head leaned back against the door.

"We're yours. You're the one who took us in," the black haired girl said. She smiled and before his eyes vanished in a poof of smoke. Sanzo's gun fell to the floor as a kitten appeared out of the smoke. The second girl moved away from the door and stood by the kitten while Sanzo sorted everything out in his head. It all made since.

"You aren't mad are you?" she asked. Another poof of smoke and the black haired girl appeared again. The two girls cautiously approached him. The red haired girl sat down next to him on the bed while the black haired girl knelt in front of him.

"We would have told you sooner but you seemed to like us better in our other form. We only changed because you left and were away so long we went to find you. It's my fault really; I suggested we change so no one else would pick us up." The girl with black hair bowed her head in shame.

"It's okay." Sanzo breathed. What was going on? He had intended to bring the kittens into town and find someone to look after them. But the kittens were actually girls? Who would he find to take them? He looked at the black haired girl and winced. Her long ears and paw shaped birthmark on the side of her neck gave her away as a demon. Now he was sure he wouldn't find someone to take them.

What was he thinking? They could take care of themselves couldn't they? He heard the distinct sound of a stomach growling and the red head blushed. Sanzo stood, carefully moving around the girl on the floor to retrieve the food he had sat down earlier. He'd let them eat then send them on their way. No reason to bother with them if they could take care of themselves.


	3. Battle for the Kittens

_Authors Note: Another chapter! Well this is going better than my other story at least. Let's hope that my writing spree can continue for a while so I can get more chapters out. Please Read and Review. A person always loves to know what others think, just be nice. And I apologize for the foul language…. Sorry…_

_Disclaimer: I still don't own anything or anyone Saiyuki related. Damn….. (ahaha more foul language!)_

Chapter Three

It was nearly sun set when the group pulled off to the side of the road to let Hakuryu have a rest. Goku at once began to dig through their baggage to find what food he hadn't eaten yet while Sanzo went on a long diatribe about his eating habits. Hakkai allowed his dragon to rest on his shoulder as he cracked a smile at the two men.

"Sanzo, we have more than enough food until we come to the next town. It's only about a day and a half away. Once Hakuryu has rested a little we'll go strait through the night and-"

"Let him bitch," Gojyo sighed, cutting Hakkai off. "Sanzo might loose all his pretty hair if he keeps his piss poor attitude pent up all day."

"You want to die?" Sanzo asked. He pointed his Smith and Wesson at the Kappa's head. Gojyo forced a smirk and raised his hands to show his submission. Sanzo snorted and turned away from him. Goku dropped the pack he had been digging through as Sanzo passed by him to sit on a nearby stump. He looked from Gojyo to Sanzo then back again, sensing some hostility (more than the normal amount) between the two.

"Maybe we should have a little something to eat?" Hakkai opened his bag and withdrew four small boxes that he had packed for a light snack. He tossed one to each of his comrades and began picking through his own for morsels that Hakuryu could eat. Watching the others, he noticed how depressed they all seemed to be.

Goku was inching towards Sanzo at a snail like rate and had barely touched his food, which was nearly unheard of. Hakkai watched as Sanzo picked through his meal, eating the noodles out of it but leaving the meat. He wondered if Sanzo had recently decided to become a vegetarian but pushed the thought aside as Goku sat directly beside Sanzo. He leaned into him a little, letting his shoulder brush against Sanzo's leg to make his presence known. Sanzo gave him a rather stern glare that made even Hakkai shudder and look away.

Gojyo's food was left untouched as he stared off into the distance, thinking hard on something that was bothering him. He had waited all night long only to fall asleep sometime during the morning and woken when Sanzo kicked him and asked what he was doing in the hallway when he had paid for a room for him. He had even looked around before they left but wasn't able to find the girl again, which worried him somewhat.

"I'm bored; we haven't fought anybody for days!" Goku whined. Sanzo cast another glare at him. "Well it's true! All this sitting around is dull."

"Yeah, the monkey might get fat if he keeps eating twice his weight during each meal," Gojyo mumbled. Goku stood, holding his box lunch in one hand and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"I'm not fat! Besides you're the one who just sits around not doing anything! Except for being pervy- PERVY KAPPA!" Goku yelled. The monkey stuck his tongue out at him and Gojyo flipped him off.

"Now!" someone yelled. Hakkai smiled brightly as Youkai leapt out at them from all sides.

"Goku, it seems that you've gotten your wish." Hakkai fired a Chi blast at the Youkai closest to him and turned to help the others. Gojyo cut down three with his Shakujou just as Goku handled the rest with his Nyoi-bo.

"That was pathetic," Gojyo spat. "I could have gone for a real fight."

"It's not over yet." Sanzo stood, looking down the road to where a tall male Youkai was walking towards them. He had no visible weapons on him but the group knew that meant nothing, most demons summoned their weapons after all.

"Genjyo Sanzo, et al, I've come to retrieve what you took." He spoke with a deep voice and eyed the bag Sanzo held. Gojyo made a sour face from being referred to as "et al" and gripped his Shakujou. Goku moved to stand by Sanzo protectively and Hakkai shifted his weight from one foot to the other in anticipation.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Get out of the road or die." Sanzo's knuckles turned white as he clutched the make shift bag in his hand, pointing his gun at the demon. "You're in our way."

"Don't play dumb. I can sense them in your bag." The demon took another step forwards and Sanzo cocked his gun. "I see that you aren't willing to give them back. Fine I'll have to take them from you." Sanzo's gun went off and the demon disappeared from view, reappearing closer to Sanzo with his fist pulled back to punch.

Sanzo moved quickly enough to avoid the strike and tossed the bag towards Hakkai. "Hold onto that!" he snapped and retaliated against the Youkai. He found that, as he tried to hit him, the Youkai disappeared again.

"Hakkai!" Goku ran towards Hakkai as the Youkai appeared again, using his claws to swipe long slashes in his shirt. Hakkai leapt backwards to avoid a full hit but the edge of one of the Youkai's claws swiped across the bag and ripped it open causing the two kittens inside to come falling out.

Hakkai and Gojyo stared at the kittens blankly while Sanzo's face reddened and Goku tried to attack the Youkai who moved to snatch them off the ground. Goku tackled him, causing the two to roll away from the kittens. Sanzo took aim as they came to a stop and cursed as Goku came out on top, blocking any clear shots.

The two kittens seemed dazed at first then slowly climbed to all fours and looked around. Sanzo winced as the kittens disappeared in a cloud of smoke and were replaced by a pair of girls. He glanced to Hakkai and Gojyo noting their mouths hanging wide open and turned his eyes back on Goku and the Youkai. Goku seemed so shocked that he didn't notice when the Youkai shoved him away and climbed back to his feet.

"What the fuck is going on?" Gojyo asked, looking from the girls to Sanzo then at the Youkai. His eyes finally settled on the red haired girl he met last night; she and the other stood between Sanzo and the Youkai. His brain set to work and his sent an accusing glare at Sanzo, so he was the "Owner" she had spoken of.

"We apologize for the inconvenience Master," said the black haired girl.

"Please go, we don't want to fight." The red head tensed as the Youkai's face darkened. The Youkai raised his clawed hand and pointed to the girl with black hair.

"Riku, step away from that human and I wont punish you so severely for your betrayal." The Youkai seemed surprised when the girl he called Riku took a step back, moving closer to Sanzo.

"Hold on a second!" Goku took a step forwards, confused about what was going on. He could see that the Youkai was going to attack again.

"I'll cover you," Riku hissed to the second girl and she turned slightly into a defensive fighting stance.

"Sorry sir, but we have a new master now." The red haired girl pushed off of the ground and launched herself towards the Youkai. As she moved a Katana appeared in her hands and she used it to attack the Youkai.

The Sanzo group stared as the two of them disappeared for a short while, the only evidence of their presence were lines of blood that appeared on the ground in the middle of the group. When the two finally reappeared again the girl was knocked back onto the ground and her Katana fell a few feet away. The Youkai stood close by, holding a deep wound in his side, there was also a long gash across his back and one of his long ears had been severed in half. The girl seemed unharmed save the scratch she had received on her elbow when she hit the ground.

She winced as he looked down at her and spat in the dirt close to where she lay. "Stay down," he growled as he passed by her, kicking dirt at her face.

"Hey Shit-for-brains!" The Youkai turned in time to see both Gojyo's Shakujou and Goku's Nyoi-bo coming at him. The Youkai dodged to one side and disappeared, causing both to miss. Goku blinked as the chain of the Shakujou wrapped around him and he hit the dirt yelling insults at Gojyo. The Youkai then appeared close to Hakkai, who threw his hands up and created a quick Chi blast that the Youkai dodged away from before Hakkai could fire it. Gojyo managed a quiet"shit" before the Chi blast his him instead and forced him back against a nearby tree, redering him unconcious.

Sanzo snorted and raised his banishing gun. He aimed it at the Youkai and began to fire, following him as he dodged around the gunfire. Hakkai blinked as bullets began to hit the ground close to him and Riku grabbed Sanzo's wrist, pushing it up before Hakkai could be hit.

"Careful Master," Riku murmured and turned on the Youkai. Hakkai was readying another Chi blast as the Youkai started towards him. Once more the Youkai dodged away and the blast took out some of the trees along the road. The Youkai then tried the same attack he had used before with Hakkai and succeeded in digging long cuts across his chest with his claws. Hakkai stumbled back as the demon attacked him again, shoving the claws on his left hand up into his belly while pulling his right hand back with intention of cutting his throat.

"You'd turn your back on me, Sir?" Hakkai blinked as the point of a Katana crossed the area in front of his face. The Youkai blinked once and gurgled something before his head slipped off his shoulders. His knees buckled as the claws pulled out of his stomach and he let his weight rest on the girl in front of him as she caught him. He winced, the wound in his stomach burned slightly, taking the edge off the slashes in his chest. As his vision blurredHakkairealized that the demons claws hadpoisoned his system.

Riku looked back at Sanzo and then over at the girl who was helping Goku untangle himself from the chain. She carefuly lowered Hakkai onto the ground and checked his forehead, noting that he was begining to become feverish. "Zima, I need your help," she called. The red haired girl looked up at her and stood, leaving Goku to help himself. Sanzo was already kneeling by Riku and leaning over Hakkai.

"Was Hakkai poisoned by his claws?" Zima asked as she scampered over to them. Riku ripped Hakkai's shirt open to examine the wounds and moved so Zima could sit beside her. The wounds were a sickly blue and purple color and were already inflamed, the bloodflow was slow due to the swelling but unless they did something soon Hakkai wouldslip beyond their help.Zima gulped as Riku nodded. She reached up and placed a hand on his forehead once morethen looked back to Zima with a worried frown.

"I'll check on the other one while you tend his injuries Zima," Riku whispered. She stood and walked over to where Gojyo still laid. Goku gave her almost a reproachful look as she passed by him. He pushed the last of the chain off of his legs and hurried over to where Hakkai lay.

"What are we gonna do Sanzo? We don't have any bandages and Hakkai's the only one who can heal," he asked as he stopped next to Sanzo. His face reddened when he realized that Sanzo was ignoring him and staring at the girl kneeling by Hakkai. He looked down at her, glaring angrily at first then felt his jaw drop and his eyes widened. She was bent over Hakkai, carefully licking his wounds. Her head raised and she reached up to brush some blood away from her lips.

"What did you do?" Goku asked, looking disgusted. Her face turned red and she looked down to watch Hakkai's wounds slowly begin to close. His skin returned to it's normal color as the wounds closed and soon no other sign could be found of the wound but the blood left on his skin.

"I took the poison out and healed the wounds." She nervously glanced over to Zima who was shaking Gojyo to rouse him.

"Who was that?" Sanzo asked when he saw Hakkai's eyes flutter open and closed as he started to come to.

"Our former owner." Riku looked up at him. "We ran away from him about a week ago. It seems that he caught up to us at the Hotel, and followed us until we were in a secluded enough area for him."

"Don't call me that. I'm not your master." Sanzo ignored Goku as he nodded. He could see that Goku didn't think much of the two girls already.

"But you took us is and gave us shelter. Then fed us and gave us a place to sleep," Zima said, her lower lip began to quiver. "I swear we won't be any more trouble, and we'll stay kittens so we wont take up any room and..."

"No. We'll take you as far as the next town and then you can find someone else to be your "master"," Sanzo snapped. Zima jumped and turned from him, changing back into a kitten with a small poof of smoke. Goku glared after her but part of him felt a little sorry for her as she tried to crawl back into the ripped bag.

"Hey Sanzo," Goku mumbled as he and the monk helped Hakkai back onto his feet.

"What?" Sanzo growled at him, releasing Hakkai so he could use Goku to steady himself on.

"I'm hungry."


	4. Lost and Found

Authors Note: Okay so we've reached another chapter. Things are still progressing rather slowly and I really should work on my other story since I'm so close to finishing that chapter... My computer is lagging! And so is my brain.

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything or anyone Saiyuki related. I don't think I ever will...

Chapter Four

Goku barely spoke as the group trudged into town. He chewed his tongue to keep from complaining about the overwhelming annoyance behind him. The two kittens were still with them and had been attached to Sanzo since they had revealed themselves. Though the red head, Zima, stayed at a distance of four feet from him at all times. She didn't bother him, having stayed quiet and barely eating the food that was meant for Sanzo, Hakkai, Gojyo, and himself. The other one, Riku, she bugged him. Eating whatever Hakkai offered her, playing cards with Gojyo when they stopped for the night, offering to help collect fire wood the previous night, and trying to sleep next to Sanzo...

Yeah, she was the one that bugged him. Now she was tugging on Sanzo's sleeve, asking where they were going to stay the night, and if she could stay in his room. He was glad to hear Sanzo tell her to let go of him, and even more jubilant when Sanzo told her that they would be in separate rooms and further more, after that day she and Zima would no longer be tagging along.

Things were looking up! He took a deep breath and felt his mouth water as the many delicious smells of food carts reached his super sensitive nose. He turned back to ask Sanzo if they could get something to eat and felt his heart sink into his stomach. Sanzo and the others were gone.

There was a distinct feeling of loneliness welling up inside of the monkey that he had hoped to never feel again. The hair raised on the back of his neck and he took a few steps forwards, looking around to find his friends. There were no signs, no smell, no voices that could help him, so when he began to run through the crowd, he ran blindly.

Goku's heart began to pound and his face heated up. He pushed past people he didn't know and ran down paths he had never seen. He searched the town to find hotels, and stopped only to ask if anyone had seen Sanzo. Yet anyone he asked hadn't seen anyone who matched Sanzo's description, nor Hakkai's or Gojyo's.

Only when the sky began to darken did Goku really begin to become desperate. He stopped people along the street, asking if they had seen his friends, he even asked a few shady looking characters if they had seen Sanzo and the others. When the streets started to clear and he still hadn't found Sanzo Goku began to fear that they had left him and continued west on their own.

He glanced from one side of the street to the other as he continued his search, hoping that his sense of smell might pick up a familiar scent along the way. He felt his heart sink with each passing thought that his friends had left him or simply didn't care enough to look for him. He finally sank into the side of the street and laid his head on his knees while he contemplated what he would do if Sanzo really had left him behind.

Saiyuki-Sanzo's Favorite-Saiyuki

Unbeknownst to a very depressed monkey Sanzo and group were well aware of the missing boy and had gathered in the lobby of a hotel on the other side of the town after looking for him. Sanzo was pacing back in forth from a mixture of agitation and what he would never admit to as worry while Gojyo loudly voiced his opinion of Goku's disappearance. Hakkai tried to quiet him while Riku watched Sanzo pace and Zima tried to hide behind her.

"He's just off stuffing his face with food! Or circling the block! The damn brat..." Gojyo continued to yell as Hakkai gave up and asked the woman cowering behind the front desk if she had seen Goku. The woman nodded, confirming that he had come in about an hour ago and asked if someone matching their descriptions had come in.

"Master, if it was only an hour then we may be able to find him still," Riku said as Sanzo passed by her. Sanzo's pacing slowed and he turned towards Hakkai and Gojyo.

"Hakkai, watch these two," he said, pointing to the girls. "I'll go look for him." Sanzo turned and sped out of the lobby, leaving Hakkai to deal with Gojyo and the girls.

"Great, now Sanzo can get himself lost along with that stupid chimp," Gojyo growled. Hakkai smiled slightly and tried to coax the girl still trying to duck behind the front desk out so he could ask for a few rooms.

"Please don't mind him miss, he really is harmless," Hakkai assured her, the girl didn't seem so sure as Gojyo cast a dark glare over to Hakkai. He most definitely was not harmless.

"This is such bullshit! I saw a bar on the way in, come and get me if Sanzo and Goku ever come back." Gojyo stormed out of the hotel and Hakkai let out a heavy sigh.

"Zima, one of us should go after Master. Since you don't seem to get along with him so well why don't you go?" Riku pushed Zima towards the exit while Hakkai's back was turned.

"I don't know where he went, and I might get lost then he'd get even more annoyed with me. You go, he doesn't mind you so much I think," Zima whispered to Riku as she tried to shove her out the door.

"No, you go. If you can make him like you then Master might let us stay." Riku turned back to be sure that Hakkai hadn't noticed them yet and gave Zima one final shove out through the door before she bounded over to Hakkai to ask him about the rooming situation.

"Riku, what happened to Zima?" He asked, looking for the other girl.

"I don't know." She shrugged and smiled sweetly. "Maybe she went with Gojyo."

"Ah, well maybe we should go help Sanzo-"

"No he's okay on his own. You should go lie down and rest some more." Riku looked around and bent down to pick up Hakuryu. "See, ever your little dragon thinks so." Hakuryu nodded his little head and Riku purred softly.

"I'm fine. Really." Hakkai gulped as she took a small step forwards, looking deeply into his eyes as she continued to purr.

"Hakkai, you really should rest. You look so tired..." Hakkai felt himself nod, he was beginning to feel sleepy. "Here, let me help you to your room?" she gently took his arm and led him towards the rooms, giving the exit a final glance to be sure that Zima wasn't trying to sneak back inside.

Saiyuki-Sanzo's Favorite-Saiyuki

Outside the hotel, wearily walking down the street, Zima searched for Sanzo. The monk was apparently faster than she had thought he could be and she had not been able to catch up to him. The nervous girl looked around to be sure that no one was close by and leap onto a pile of boxes by a closed food cart, then leapt onto a nearby roof.

Her eyes narrowed in the darkness as her eyes adjusted to the darkened area above the buildings and she took a rather timid step forwards. The roof was steep, and she nearly lost her footing on her second step. Zima sighed and bowed her head as she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

As a cat she managed to traverse the roof tops both quickly and agilely. She leapt from roof to roof while keeping an eye out for both Sanzo and Goku, hoping to find either one. She chose to head off to the right, where there was still a lingering scent of food in the air. She managed to get about twenty roof tops from the hotel before she caught sight of what looked like a boy sitting on the side of the street. She leapt down from the roof top and shot across the street before he could look up and spot her.

Zima held her breath while Goku looked around, having obviously sensed something when she came near. Goku seemed to relax a little once he saw that no one had happened by and he looked back to his knees, reaching up to rub at something on his face. Zima moved a little out from behind the wheel of another vending cart and held in a mew that threatened to escape her. Goku was crying?

She turned and took of down the street, tail straight up in the air as she went on a rampant search for Sanzo. She found him a few blocks away trying to threaten a rowdy looking youth with his banishing gun for Goku's whereabouts.

Zima ducked back behind the side of a building to keep out of view and meowed as loudly as she could. She glanced back around the building to see that the meow had gotten Sanzo's attention and began to mew to make him come near. Sanzo shoved the boy away and started towards the building, she turned and started down the street, stopping halfway to turn and mew again when Sanzo came around the side of the building.

It took longer than she would have liked to lead Sanzo back to Goku, he seemed not to want to follow her. She understood of course, it was dark and she doubted he could tell it was her very well. Even if he had been able to tell he may have just not wanted to follow her because he didn't like her much.

She mewed one last time before going around the corner that lead to the street that Goku was on and hiding again behind the vending cart. She watched as Sanzo cautiously rounded the corner then, upon seeing Goku, ran forwards.

"Goku!" Sanzo yelled.

"Sanzo?" Goku's head shot up and he nearly leapt onto his feet to run to Sanzo. "Sanzo!" he called happily and caught the monk in a tight hug before Sanzo had time to even think about bringing out his paper fan.

"Goku-" Sanzo began, moving to shove him away.

"I thought you left me." Sanzo froze as he heard those words from Goku. He sighed, frowning as he felt Goku trembling against him. The small boy sniffed and buried his face into Sanzo's robes before he began to sob heavily. "I couldn't find you, even when I called out for you, I couldn't find you." Sanzo wrapped an arm around Goku them placed a hand on his head to pet the boy's hair.

"Idiot."

Sanzo seemed to have forgotten about the cat he had followed in order to find Goku. Had he remembered it he probably wouldn't have comforted him. Well, regardless to wether or not Sanzo had forgotten her she settled down to watch the two of them from the roof top she had climbed onto.

She leaned her head to one side and frowned slightly, wondering what exactly was between the two men. There was a breeze she hadn't noticed earlier, that made her shiver and her hair fall into her face to obstruct her view. She brushed her red tendrils out of her face and stood to leave the two in peace.

Zima nearly fell of the roof when she spotted a dark shadow a few roof tops away. Her momentary distraction caused her to look away in order to catch herself and when she looked back the shadow was no longer there. Zima looked back down and saw Sanzo and Goku heading back towards the hotel. With her heart pounding in her ears she decided to follow them back, just in case something happened along the way.


	5. Barely Kisses

1Authors Note:Why does it seem to take so long to finish a chapter? Besides the obvious fact that I procrastinated around until I finally started it. Though I was working on other stories and trying to keep my computer healthy.

Disclaimer: Saiyuki doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Minekura-sama! Though I managed to come up with Riku and Zima. Woot!

Chapter Five

Zima found that the journey back to the hotel was more difficult than she had originally thought. Goku's perkiness had returned and every time she ventured too close the monkey would sense her and turn to look at the roof tops. Sanzo seemed to only become more annoyed by this and he had taken to hitting Goku over the head with his trusty paper fan when he would try to inspect their surroundings.

She had to stay low and far behind them in order to remain hidden from view. It was no surprise that she was relieved when Goku and Sanzo finally reached the hotel. Once they were safely inside she leaped onto the hotel's roof where she would keep an eye on both the streets around the hotel, and the roof tops. She had yet to forget the dark shadow she had seen.

It was only after she felt that the Hotel was secure that she leapt down onto the street and went inside. She found Riku in the Hotel lobby, waiting for her.

"What took you so long? Sanzo and Goku came back nearly an hour ago." Riku placed her hands on her hips as she spoke, glaring slightly.

"I saw something while I was out. A shadow. I followed Master from the roof tops then secured the area. I haven't seen anything else, and I don't think we were followed," Zima said.

"I'll go get Gojyo, bring him back to the hotel, and then guard Master until morning. You go and sleep in Hakkai's room, I left the door unlocked for you." She smiled and waited for Zima to leave.

"Riku, let me go get Gojyo. I don't want Master to be alone, what if someone attacks while you are away and I'm sleeping?" Zima asked.

"I won't take long bringing Gojyo back. I'll just hypnotize him as I did Hakkai. Besides, leaving Hakkai alone isn't a good idea either. We need to be sure that his wounds healed properly."

"Yes, of course. Please come back soon, that shadow might have been something dangerous." Zima pouted as Riku waved her hand, unconcerned with the shadow.

"Let me worry about it. Hakkai's room is down that way, just a little past Master's." Riku pointed Zima in the right direction and gave her a gentle shove to get her moving. Zima still seemed a little hesitant about leaving but decided not to argue with Riku about it and quietly left.

She stared at the floor as she walked, worriedly chewing her lower lip as she thought about the shadow she had seen, for all she knew it could have been her eyes playing tricks on her, or even her imagination running wild.

She let out a loud, miserable sigh and her shoulders slumped as she hung her head. She had always been bothersome and worthless in comparison to Riku. It seemed like Riku was always pitying her as she sent her off to do something that could make her seem useful, but she always managed to screw up somehow. Zima was so busy putting herself down that she didn't notice the door swing open in front of her and ran right into it.

Zima cringed as she hit the floor, looking up to see what had struck her. The color drained from her face as she saw Sanzo, frowning down at her as he pushed the door closed behind him.

"Ma- er... I'm sorry I wasn't watching where I was going and-"

"It's fine. Get off the floor." He raised an eyebrow as she hurriedly pushed herself up, standing so quickly that she nearly blacked out. She stumbled forwards against Sanzo and grabbed his robes to catch herself, at the same time he wrapped an arm around her to keep her from sinking to the floor. Zima blinked a few times as her head cleared and looked up at Sanzo, her face turning bright pink at the displeased look on his face.

"I didn't mean to," she whimpered. Zima gulped as her heart began to pound in her chest.

"Sanzo!" Goku called from inside the room. Sanzo turned and opened the door, without another word he stepped back inside and closed it behind him. Zima sighed and continued down the hall until she came to Hakkai's room. She unlocked the door and wondered if Riku had found Gojyo yet.

Saiyuki-Sanzo's Favorite-Saiyuki

Gojyo was already walking out of the bar by the time that Riku found it. He was stuffing what money he had made after playing cards into his pocket and grinning like a child who had just robbed a candy shop. She smiled as he caught sight of her and quickly ran over, clasping her hands behind her back when she reached him.

"Sanzo-sama and brought Goku back to the hotel a while ago. Hakkai didn't want to wait up for you and Zima was also tired so I thought that I would come and check on you, since it's become so late," she quickly explained.

"Thanks kitten," he said, slipping an arm around her shoulders. Riku purred softly and batted her lashes up at him, knowing that he was drunker than he looked. "Maybe you can help me find my way to my room, and keep me company while your at it?"

Riku pouted her lips a little and Gojyo turned, backing her up against the wall of a building. He placed his hands on either side of her head against the wall and leaned down a little so his head was level with hers. Riku grasped his jacket, pulling him a little closer, encouraging him to fill the space between their lips. Gojyo chuckled and tilted his head slightly so his nose brushed hers.

"What's the matter?" he asked, letting his lips graze against hers as he spoke.

"I don't think that Sanzo-sama will like it if I do that," she said, slipping a hand into his coat to press against his chest, running it down along his abdomen to the metal clasp of his belt.

"I don't give a shit what Sanzo would like, but what do you want to do?"

"I," she said, leaning forwards slightly so that her lips were barely touching his. "I want to..."

"Yeah?" Gojyo leaned in, cursing in his mind as she pulled away slightly so he couldn't catch her in a kiss.

"I want to obey my master." She said, letting her hands fall and ducking under one of his arms to walk down the street. She paused momentarily and looked back over her shoulder. "And so will Zima. So do not think you can have either of us at will."

Gojyo blinked and straightened up, watching her walk away as though he were entranced by the sway of her waist. "Well shit," he said to himself.

Riku clicked her tongue as she walked back to the Hotel, well aware of Gojyo trailing behind and sighed to herself. She hoped that little talk would set the hot blooded half demon in his place. She would not have him ruin her and Zima's chances of having a decent master and she truly believed that Sanzo would be a good master. After all, the man had yet to even assert his power over either of them, so he must be a good, kind man.

She blinked when she found herself back at the Hotel and quickly ran to Hakkai's room to check in on Zima. She found her sleeping, on the outside of the covers of the bed, in her kitten form curled up with Hakuryu for warmth. After being sure that Hakkai was still well she left the room and went back outside to climb on the roof and stand guard.

She stayed there until dawn, well ready to tell Zima that the shadow she had seen must have been only in her mind, as she had not noticed anything. That would put her friend at ease at least. She yawned and stretched her arms, preparing to climb down when she saw something from the corner of her eye. A strange shape a few roof tops away, but it was gone before she could turn her head and see it clearly. Riku frowned and leapt from the roof top to go to Sanzo's room. Perhaps Zima had not been seeing things, or perhaps the morning light and lack of sleep was playing tricks on her. Still, she would rather be safe than sorry.

She could hear rustling in the rooms as she passed by them, people were beginning to stir. She put a little extra speed in her step and quickly made it to Sanzo's room, letting herself in with the room key she had kept for her master so he wouldn't have to trouble himself about looking after it. She skipped over to the bed where Sanzo lay and looked quickly to the still sleeping Goku, giving him a reproachful glare for not caring enough about Sanzo to wake him at the dawn of the day so he could rise and have more time to accomplish the days tasks.

She lent down over him and placed a gentle kiss on his lips while she stroked his cheek with the back of one hand. She quickly straightened up and jumped back away as Sanzo jerked awake and pointed his banishing gun at her. Still half asleep he fired his gun.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked from her crouched position on the floor. Behind her Goku sat up and looked around for the disturbance.

The door burst open and Zima stood, breathing hard and looking around for an attacker.

"Sanzo-sama, are you alright?"

"Both of you get out!" He yelled and the two girls turned tail and ran from the room, disappearing in clouds of smoke as they went.


	6. Catnapped

1Author's Note: I'm a horrible person and I took so long to update this story... Forgive me! This story should hopefully get a little less silly now and the chapters will be getting a little longer. Not too long but longer, since there's more to write... and I'll ramble on and on and on and on in the Author's Notes as I attempt to procrastinate. And the content might get a little more adult starting with the next chapter so be on a look out for that! The rating will change. I'm evil... I could write bad bad things... bad evil things... ramble ramble...

Disclaimer: Why can't we all just share Saiyuki? (Other than the fact that I would Lock Gojyo away as my own private..) Saiyuki is owned my Kazuya Minekura...

Chapter Six

The vein that popped out on Sanzo's head whenever he was pissed was now very much prominent as he watched Goku stuff more food than he could handle into his mouth at once. Yet, even with food still sticking out between his lips the boy managed to chew and swallow without choking. Yet even more annoying than Goku's terrible table manors was Gojyo's scowling face as he sent rather angry glares at him from his place across the table. The monk felt himself being pushed over the edge with every shifty gaze from the kappa and soon found his hand reaching for his gun under the table.

"We should do some shopping before we leave. I wasn't able to do any yesterday since Goku was missing and we had to search for him," Hakkai said, breaking the mounting tension at the table. Sanzo sighed and instead of retrieving his gun he whipped out his ( aka the Three Aspect's) credit card and handed it over.

"And remember that you're only shopping for us and Goku. Those two are staying here," he said, pointing to the pair of kittens that could be seen romping around with Hakuryu outside the window.

"Can I come shopping with you Hakkai?" Goku asked, having finally cleared the monstrosity of a plateful of food he had been eating at an unnatural pace.

"Of course." Hakkai stood and gave Sanzo and Gojyo a cheerful smile before leading Goku out of the restaurant and off down the street. Sanzo watched through the window as Hakuryu flew off after Hakkai and the small black kitten went bounding off after him.

Sanzo stood, intending to leave without Gojyo but he followed him instead. Once out on the street Gojyo became bold enough to yell at the monk, attracting the attention of a few people and the little red kitten as well.

"What's your problem?" Gojyo hollered at Sanzo's back.

"You're the one with the poor ass attitide," Sanzo growled still walking away.

"If you want to do something about it then do it already ass face," Gojyo snarled, ready for a fight. It was really starting to piss him off that Sanzo was being such an asshole. The monk had been the one who picked the two girls up, and now he wanted to dump them in some town in the middle of no where.

Sanzo turned on him, throwing his fist as he did so. The throbbing vein in his temple melted away along with all of his anger and aggravation as his fist collided with the side of the half-Youkai's head. The noise around him all sort of drowned out and he had a sick feeling of sinking as Zima hit the ground in front of him.

Saiyuki-Sanzo's Favorite-Saiyuki

"Hakkai, your wounds do not still bother you at all do they?" Riku asked, shifting a bag of groceries so she could see him better. Hakuryu had transformed and they were loading their supplies into him.

"No, thank you for your concern but I believe that they have all healed," he said with a smile. Riku nodded and carefully placed the groceries into the back seat. She looked over her shoulder and frowned slightly at Goku's back. He had gone up to Sanzo's room to tell him that they were all done shopping. She had hoped to try once more to plead with Sanzo to let Zima and herself stay by his side.

"I'm glad that Zima was able to remove the poison before it became troublesome for you." She turned back to him and clasped her hands behind her back. "You're very strong Hakkai, his poison claws normally kill within a few moments of entering a person's system."

"I'm afraid I didn't even know I had been poisoned until just before I lost consciousness," he admitted. "It was convenient that you knew about the poison."

"It was my fault that he attacked all of you in the first place. It was his intention to kill all of you and take me back. I thought that we had managed to escape from him when we lost him in the forest and even if he did find us again he wouldn't try to take me away since Master had picked us up. But I was wrong, and you were almost killed as a result."

"That Youkai choose to attack us. You have no reason to blame yourself for someone else's actions. And you killed him, you're free to do as you will," Hakkai sighed, leaning against the side of the jeep. Riku looked away from him as though she were ashamed and shook her head.

"I fear that killing him may have just made things worse."

"What do you mean?" Hakkai asked. Riku bit her lower lip but did not answer.

"Hakkai, Sanzo wants you to bring that girl up here!" Goku yelled from a window above their heads. Hakkai and Riku both looked up at him in surprise and immediately Riku took off to get to Sanzo's room. Hakkai paused momentarily, he wondered what it was the girl was keeping to herself. An urge from Goku stirred him from his thoughts and he headed for Sanzo's room, telling Hakuryu that they'd all be down soon.

He nodded a polite hello to the girl sitting behind the desk in the lobby before heading up the stairs and down the hall to Sanzo's room. The door had been left slightly ajar and he entered cautiously before shutting it behind him.

Sanzo and Gojyo were at opposite sides of the room, as far from one another as they could be while Goku stood near the still open window. Riku was standing in front of a small table she made a faint choking sound before her legs gave out on her. Hakkai rushed to catch her, both of them sinking to the floor as he held onto the girl and saw what it was she had been looking at.

"What happened?" she breathed, her voice faintly a whisper on the still air.

"She got in the middle of a fight between me and Sanzo, and she got hit by a wild punch," Gojyo said.

Riku took a deep breath and leaned forwards, reaching out to touch the small kitten that was laying on a pillow on the table. Her fingers gentle caressed the soft, warm fur.

"She's alright, only unconscious," Riku said. Her shoulders relaxed with relief and she scratched behind one of Zima's ears.

"Riku-" Sanzo began but Riku raised a hand to stop him.

"It's alright. She wouldn't have put herself between to fighting men if she wasn't willing to take a blow or two to break up the fight," she said. "Zima won't bear either of you any ill will so you can go."

Gojyo looked away from the spot on the floor he had been staring at and glared daggers at Sanzo. The monk seemed to know this and without looking at Gojyo he walked over to Riku and Hakkai. Riku frowned up at him as Sanzo fought not to scowl.

He opened his mouth but couldn't seem to find the words to say what he wanted to when his eyes met hers. Their was a soft breeze that came in through the window, it made Sanzo look away from her and his eyes opened wide with surprise as he found himself looking at a strange Youkai standing inside the room.

Instictivly he reached for his gun but the Youkai simply held out his hand and smirked at him. Sanzo felt something hit him in the gut before he was thrown back into the wall, his head making a loud crack as it struck. The Youkai threw something down and the room filled with a strange greyish green smoke. When it cleared the Youkai was gone, alone with Goku, Gojyo, and Zima.


	7. Falling

1Author's Note: You know... I may have to quit my job and be a bum so I can finish this story, I try to get these chapters out I really do, but I have to go to work at three in the evening and I go to bed at three in the morning... and sleep...a lot... Heh, well this chapter will be longer than the others, but there shouldn't be anything naughty going on... -grin-

Disclaimer: Saiyuki is owned my Kazuya Minekura! However, it's up to the fans to torture Minekura-sensei's characters. Not that it isn't done enough to them already... but come on... it's better this way.

Chapter Seven

The sun shone brightly overhead; birds were singing happily in the trees and Sanzo was enjoying a leisurely drive alone in the forest. Okay Sanzo was rising passenger side with Hakkai driving and Riku still wigging out in the backseat. And it wasn't really a leisurely drive, since Hakkai was driving fairly quickly and serving to avoid obstacle in the road. That is, if you wanted to call the rock and dirt path they were on a road..

"I'm so sorry this is all my fault! If only I hadn't convinced Zima to escape with me then Goku-san and Gojyo-san would be alright!" Riku sobbed from the backseat. Her words were almost indistinguishable. "Zima warned me but I didn't listen, she said she had seen something but I ignored her and now they could all be dead!"

"Oh don't worry about Goku and Gojyo, they can take care of themselves," Hakkai said and jerked the wheel so hard that Hakuryu squeaked in protest as they went around a root protruding out of the ground. "At least we're headed West, though, you could have mentioned that we were headed straight towards the town you had escaped from. I'm sure we could have found a way around it so you girls wouldn't have been in harms way."

"No, that was the way Sanzo-san wanted to go, it wasn't our place to tell him not to," Riku said. She hung her head. "Even at this speed, the town is all the way at the edge of the forest. Its overrun by youkai and nearly two days away. The forest itself isn't even safe anymore, youkai live all over we could be attacked any time and there's no guarantee that Goku-san and Gojyo-san are still alive."

Sanzo grunted as they hit a rather nasty bump and he was jolted over against the door. Riku grabbed Hakkai's seat to keep from being tossed out and Hakkai said something about Hakuryu needing seatbelts. The monk was not amused, he felt tense and his stomach was twisting into knots, ever since he had seen that Goku was gone he felt sick inside. The only thing that kept him calm was that he knew Goku was alright, not that he knew how, it was just a feeling that he had, stronger than even the nausea that was threatening him.

"Sanzo I don't think that Hakuryu can take much more of this," Hakkai warned the monk, he was slowing down to give the dragon a little relief but the road only looked worse up ahead.

"Alright, we'll stop here," Sanzo said. Hakkai pulled over and they all climbed out, grabbing what supplies they had bagged up and unloading it so Hakuryu could transform. Sanzo hoisted the strap of one back onto his shoulder and started walking down the path while Riku pulled the other pack onto her back and found herself being pulled down to the dirt road under it's weight. Hakkai grabbed the pack and effortly pulled her back up.

"Perhaps I could trouble you to carry Hakuryu instead?" he asked. Riku blushed, embarrassed that she wasn't strong enough to carry the pack but nodded. She let Hakkai take the pack in exchange for Hakuryu. She cradled the little dragon in her arms and he stretched his neck so his head was laying on her shoulder.

She watched him pull the straps over his shoulders and smile politely at her before going on ahead, walking as though the pack weighted only a few pounds. Riku paused, admiring him for a moment before she started after him, carefully picking her way across the debris in the road.

Saiyuki-Sanzo's Favorite-Saiyuki

Goku sighed as he came to, reaching to wipe the drool from the corner of his mouth. He blinked as his arm didn't move, or rather something kept it from moving. His eyes snapped open and he yelled loudly, surprised that Zima's face was mere inches away from his own. He quickly sat up and shoved her, making the girl roll off the arm that had been trapped under her.

"Goku-san! Are you alright?" Zima asked as she snapped awake and sat up. She hissed and placed a hand over her right temple, it hurt. Goku glared at her. He was starving and she had been trying to cuddle him in his sleep.

"I'm starving to death! Where are we?" he asked, while he looked around the room. It was simple, four walls, a large metal door, a cot, and a barred window. "Where's Sanzo?"

"I think I might know," Zima said. She slowly climbed to her feet, and, very slowly, walked over to the cot. She climbed onto it and stood on the small bed, while she looked out the barred window. "Yes, we're in the village at the edge of the forest. This is where Riku and I used to live before we ran away and Sanzo-sama found us. I... I don't understand though. Riku killed the leader of the youkai who live here, why would they come after us?"

"So this is your fault! They went after you and you refused to leave after Sanzo said he didn't want you around so they attacked us!" Goku yelled, bawling his hands into fists. "Well I'm not gonna wait around here to see what's gonna happen to us, they must have Sanzo somewhere and I'm gonna find him!" Goku turned from her, summoning his Nyoi-Bo.

"Goku don't!" Zima yelled as Goku hit the metal door. Goku blinked as electricity raced up his weapon and hit him. He screamed as the door electrocuted his and sent him flying back against the wall opposite of the door. "Goku-san! Goku-san, are you alright?" Zima frantically asked, leaping from the bed to where he laid in a crumpled heap on the floor. No sooner than she had placed a hand on his shoulder the door slid open behind her.

"Is the runt dead?" a cold, male voice asked from the door way. Zima trembled, she clutched Goku's shirt and turned her head to look back over her shoulder. "You'd better answer me." his eyes were narrowed and dangerous, an icy blue color that sent a shiver to her very core as he glared at her.

"N...No Toshiro-dono." She said, her heart pounding in her chest. She stared at him, tensing as he stepped into the room and a pair of youkai came in dragging Gojyo between them. Zima gripped Goku's shirt as they hauled Gojyo over to the wall and sat him down.

"Do as you'd like with that half-breed, I'll be back for you later." The man she had called Toshiro said before turning and walking through the doorway, followed by the two youkai who had carried in Gojyo. Zima stayed still until the door had slid closed and then rushed over to Gojyo.

"Gojyo-san..." She dropped to her knees beside him. His breathing was labored, there was a gash on one side of his face as well as over the bridge of his nose, one of his eyes was swollen shut but the other was still partially open. Zima was almost relived to see him still conscious.

He winced with his good eye as she touched the gash on the side of his face, jerking slightly as the wound pained him. Gojyo gasped and cringed as he moved, clenching his hands into fists at his sides. Zima dropped the cloth and carefully pulled Gojyo's shirt up. His chest was covered in cuts and burn marks, on his left side was a large bruise and she frowned deeply.

"Some of your ribs are broken. I can fix them, if you'll let me," she said, looking back to his face for permission. Gojyo nodded his head slightly, he tried to speak but she cut him off, cupping his face in her hands as she turned his head slightly so she could kiss him. He nearly jerked away, a pain worse than the one he was already feeling shot into him and made his body tense up. It soon began to fade away though and as it did he felt his body relax. The pain melted away and she pulled away. Gojyo blinked, able to see with both eyes.

"Oh man," Goku groaned from across the room. Zima turned and ran over to him.

"Goku, do you feel alright?" she asked, taking hold of his arm to pull him up.

"I'm so hungry..." Goku whined as she helped him over to the cot. She helped him sit down and then looked back to Gojyo. "When did you get here?" Goku asked, noticing Gojyo for the first time. "Is Sanzo here?"

"They dragged me in here while your monkey ass was sleeping you little punk," Gojyo snapped.

"I wasn't sleeping! That door shocked me!" Goku yelled back at him. Zima looked back and forth at them worriedly. Gojyo grunted and climbed to his feet, his legs felt a little weak at first but he managed to make his way over to the cot and sank down beside Goku.

"Well Sanzo isn't here, neither is Hakkai or Riku, at least I don't think they are. I don't really remember much except for waking up with that jackass and his goons ready to gang up on me."

"I could fit between the bars of the window, and I think I could get back into the building. If I could take out some of the guards then maybe I can-"

"No, these guys mean business. You could get seriously hurt if you made even one wrong move," Gojyo said.

"You don't have to worry about me. They wouldn't kill me unless Toshiro-dono told them to. You see, I used to live here before, with Riku and her master. I belonged to Toshiro-dono, who was Riku's master's younger brother. I guess when we escaped and Riku killed her master in the forest Toshiro-dono took over their gang. Though, I don't know why he had the two of you kidnaped, or why he let Sanzo, Hakkai, and Riku alone." Zima raised her hands to her face and sighed into them. She should have convinced Riku to leave when she saw the shadow on the night Goku went missing, then maybe Goku and Gojyo wouldn't have been dragged into their mess.

"So it is your fault," Goku shot at her. Gojyo smacked him in the back of the head.

"Look you ape-"

"No, he's right. I've been nothing but trouble for you, It is my fault."

Saiyuki-Sanzo's Favorite-Saiyuki

"Are you hungry?" Hakkai asked, arranging a few logs in the fire. Across from him, sitting rather stiffly and staring into the flames was a clearly troubled monk. Sanzo grunted in response and puffed at his cigarette. He'd been smoking so heavily since they made camp that Hakkai had lost count, well, at least the smoke would keep the bugs away.

Hakkai sighed and turned his face upwards to look at the darkened sky overhead. It was cloudy, barely any stars could be seen and the moon was almost completely obscured overhead. "It looks like it might rain."

Sanzo grunted again and flicked the butt of his cigarette into the fire. Hakkai watched him take out his pack of cigarettes then throw it into the fire. Sanzo gritted his teeth as he walked over to one of the bags to dig through it. However, he wasn't able to find what he was looking for and looked around for the smaller bag they had brought with them.

"Did she take the other bag with her?" he asked Hakkai.

"Yes, did you need something?" Hakkai stood, intending to go and retrieve the item for Sanzo.

"Cigarettes." Sanzo stared at him rather blankly, as though Hakkai should have already known what he wanted.

"Of course." Hakkai turned away from Sanzo and the fire and walked into the dark, looming forest. He had known Sanzo's cigarettes were in the bag. After seeing him take out a brand new pack and start smoking away at it as though he was striving for first place in a lung cancer competition he was almost relived when Riku said she was going to go and check the area. He'd given her the pack while Sanzo wasn't looking and told her to take it along, there were some first aid supplies in it in case she ran into trouble and he sent Hakuryu with her as back up.

He hadn't gone very far into the forest before he heard the distant sound of Hakuryu's squeaking. Alarmed, he rushed forwards towards the sound, ignoring the branches of the trees as they caught him, scrapping his face. There was a sound like the splashing of water and then laughing, accompanied by a round noisy squeaks from Hakuryu. He slowed, coming to a complete stop when he found a small clearing.

Riku was kneeling at the edge of a river, splashing water at Hakuryu who was playing in the river, using his wings to beat at the water and splash her back. Hakkai relaxed and stepped out from the forest.

"Riku, Hakuryu," he called over to them. Riku stood and brushed the dirt away from her legs before she walked over to him with Hakuryu trailing behind.

"Sorry, we didn't see anything and Hakuryu sort of wanted to play." Riku adjusted the strap of the bag on her shoulder. Hakkai smiled and nodded as Hakuryu flew in a circle around the two of them before heading off towards camp.

"It's fine, Sanzo just sent me to fetch something from the bag I gave you. Though, we should get back-" Hakkai stopped, taken by surprise when Riku placed a hand on the side of his face, her fingers tracing something on his cheek.

"You're hurt. Did something happen?"

"No," Hakkai said. His cheek did sting slightly though, now that he thought about it. "A tree branch must have caught me while I was running-"

"Running? Why were you running?" Riku asked, dropping the bag and kneeling down to open it and look for the first aid kit inside.

"I heard the commotion Hakuryu was making and thought that you might have been ambushed." He stood still as she used a cotton swob and some antiseptic to clean the scratch on the side of his face.

"My healing skills aren't quite as strong as Zima's. I'm more of a hypnotist."

"Do mind if I asked you something?" He tried to hold still as she placed a band aid over the scratch.

"You may ask whatever you like Hakkai-san." She noticed that his hands had a few scratches and wordlessly went to work cleaning those as well.

"Ah, first you can call me Hakkai. You don't need to be so formal, and the same goes for the others," he said, watching her clean his scratches.

"Alright," she said, looking up at him while holding his hand in hers. "Hakkai." She smiled softly; her fingers gently caressing his hand. He felt a strange sensation come over him as he looked down into her eyes, almost like a warm blanket was being wrapped around his stiff, cold frame. Hakkai was startled to find himself thinking that he might fall into the pools of sapphire and jade and drown in the ebony depths of her eyes if he stayed there for too long. "What would you like to know?"

He blinked, her voice snapping him back to reality. She looked back to his hand and put a band aid around one finger. "When Goku, Gojyo, and Zima were abducted you told us that the youkai who took them was one of those who lived in the village at the edge of the forest. And that you used to live there, but you've never told us why it was that the two of you had to escape from there-" Hakkai's words caught in his throat when he noticed that Riku had stopped cleaning his scratches.

She was tense, as though the very thought had frightened her. Her head raised and Hakkai felt his chest tighten, his throat went dry and he could find the words to say that he hadn't meant to pry, or that he shouldn't have brought it up.

"When Zima and I were there we belonged to the head of the village and his younger brother. They treated us like property, and used us however they wanted, even lent us to the other youkai as rewards. I couldn't stand living like that, but Zima was too frightened to do anything about it. They often treated her worse because she is only half youkai, so it was difficult to convince her to disobey her master and run away with me. The first time we waited until our masters had both sent us to another youkai for the day and decided to escape. But he caught us before we could even get out of the forest and gave us back to our masters. They were so furious-" Riku's voice broke and she looked away from Hakkai.

"Riku..." He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. He wasn't sure what to expect, if he should have even touched her. It seemed like forever ago since he last held a woman in his arms or held someone close to comfort them. He wasn't even sure if he knew how to anymore. Her arms encircling his waist reassured him, and the warmth of her breath through his shirt as she buried her face in it let him know it was okay.

She was trembling and seemed so fragile that he was afraid to hold her tightly least he hurt her. But she was also warm and soft; and she was holding onto him so desperately that he didn't notice his hands sliding up her back, over her shoulders and to the sides of her face. Hakkai felt himself weaken as her eyes met his again and he fell into them, damning himself as he watched his image obscure in twin pools of ebony.

Hakkai ached when he raised his head, he had to blink his eyes to clear his vision of her. Riku's face was flushed red, her lips were swollen red and slightly parted as she drew in air. He didn't dare look at her eyes, feeling that he might loose his control again if he did. Gods help him, he wanted to.


End file.
